1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to Ethernet.
2. Background Art
A Passive Optical Network (PON) is a single, shared optical fiber that uses inexpensive optical splitters to divide a single fiber into separate strands feeding individual subscribers. An Ethernet PON (EPON) is a PON based on the Ethernet standard. EPONs provide simple, easy-to-manage connectivity to Ethernet-based, IP equipment, both at customer premises and at the central office. As with other Gigabit Ethernet media, EPONs are well-suited to carry packetized traffic.
Existing EPON Optical Line Terminals (OLT) implement an EPON MAC layer (IEEE 802.3ah). The EPON MAC layer provides various packet processing capabilities, quality of service (QoS) functions, and management features. Today, however, these capabilities, functions, and features can only be exploited over pure optical fiber networks.
The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Generally, the drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.